The 23 Best National Park Adventures

Big Bend

With more than 800,000 acres, Big Bend is the largest park in Texas, running along the Rio Grande River that forms the boundary between Mexico and the United States. It was established in 1944 and is one of the least-visited parks in the country, despite being home to more than 1,500 species of plants, birds, and mammals. Hiking and backpacking are popular activities in the park, but nothing quite compares to its stargazing. In 2012, the park was named one of the 10 best places on the planet to stargaze by the International Dark-Sky Association because it has some of the darkest skies in the continental U.S.

Don't Miss:Marfa, Texas, a remote ranching community turned style hub, is a two hour drive northwest of Big Bend and is a must-see if you’re in the area. In recent years, the town has become home to a thriving music scene, fashion-forward boutiques, modern art exhibits and trendy food trucks. Locals recommend playing pool at Lost Horse Saloon before checking into a teepee or RV at the hotel El Cosmico.

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Acadia

As New England's only national park, Maine's Acadia National Park is relatively small but still draws nearly three million visitors each year. Most of the park centers around Mount Desert Island which has a 20-mile Park Loop Road with fantastic views and a path to Cadillac Mountain. Fit hikers should attempt the Precipice Trail, which is the most challenging and well-known attraction in Acadia National, with an almost vertical 1,000-foot climb.

Don't Miss: The Schoodic Peninsula, the only portion of the park on the mainland, has similar scenery to Mount Desert Island but is far more secluded. In the 1930s and 1940s, some of this area was transferred to the Navy to be used as a radio communication station, but was given back to the Park Service in 2002. For easy sightseeing, take the six-mile, one-way loop of road around Schoodic to see the sea birds that call the peninsula home.

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Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon exposes two-billion-year-old sediments, but remains the National Park's posterchild more for because its photogenic than because its a playground for geologists. Tourists tend to peer into the canyon from the rim, but the smart ones make the hike to the bottom and back. The even smarter ones have mules carry their stuff.

DON'T MISS: As millions of tourists clog the main entrance to the park along the South Rim gateway, drive over to the North Rim to Tuweep, where adrenaline junkies head to go whitewater rafting and bypass the crowds. Camp for free next to a 3,000-foot drop and hike the park’s shortest, but steepest, trail to the bottom where Lava Falls, the roughest rapids in the whole canyon, await.

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Sequoia and Kings Canyon

Seuqoia and Kings are jointly administered by the National Parks Service and are famous for their giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman, the largest trees on the planet that sits in the Giant Forest. Established in 1890, Sequoia National Park is one of the oldest parks in the country. Kings Canyon, founded in 1940, officially connected to Sequoia in 1943. Together, they include 800 miles of hiking trails and draw snowshoers, horseback riders, and rock climbers.

DON'T MISS: Waterslides may not be the first thing that come to mind when thinking about the Sierra Nevadas, there are plenty of natural ones just north of Johnsondale, California. The Kern River slides can be accessed by a short hike around a nearby tributary. In the spring, the river swells with melted ice water that makes the slides especially brisk.

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Isle Royale

Michigan's Isle Royale isn't easy to get to – visitors must arrive by boat or seaplane – but it's worth the effort. Located in the northwest corner of Lake Superior, the untamed island is known for wild wolves and moose, but that doesn’t stop visitors from spending roughly three days at the park on average. It has two developed areas, Windigo and Rock Harbor, which have small stores, showers, boat docks, and 36 wilderness campgrounds that typically include wooden shelters and tent areas.

Don't Miss: The Rock of Ages Lighthouse, just 3.5 miles west of Isle Royale, has six above-water decks for fog signal equipment and living quarters that include an office, common room, kitchen, and sleeping area.

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Virgin Islands

After the U.S. bought St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix from Denmark during World War I, Laurence S. Rockefeller donated more than 5,000 acres of St. John to the National Park Service to preserve the land. In 1962, the Virgin Islands National Park acquired an additional 5,650 underwater acres around the coastline, and today, stretches about 19 miles through half of St. John. The area is marked by white beaches, coral reefs, swampland and more than 800 subtropical plant species.

Don't Miss: Trunk Bay, one of the world's most beautiful beaches and hosts a 225-yard-long underwater snorkeling trail. Cinnamon Bay has an aqua sports center that can help arrange windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving lessons. It also has a campground with tent sites and cottages across from the beach.

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Death Valley

Located below sea level near California's Mojave Desert, Death Valley is the largest national park south of Alaska and is one of the hottest and driest places on earth. The region is usually soaked in sun (rainfall averages less than two inches a year) but winter storms and summer monsoons occasionally overtake the area, and strong dust storms are relatively common. Despite these extreme conditions, Death Valley has more than 51 species of native mammals, 307 species of birds, and 36 species of reptiles. This is a cyclist's park, with more than 300 miles of paved and level paths.

Don't Miss: In Grapevine Canyon on the north end of Death Valley is Scotty's Castle, also known as Death Valley Ranch and is the former vacation home of Albert Mussey Johnson, a Chicago millionaire who was once president of the National LIfe Insurance Company. He was also a friend of the infamous con man Death Valley Scotty, who convinced many that he had built the castle with funds from his his own secret mines, and is buried nearby.

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Yosemite

Stretching over the western slopes of California's Sierra Nevada mountain chain, Yosemite is perhaps best known for its dramatic waterfalls – and its world-class climbing. El Capitan and Half Dome draw thousands of climbers each year to Yosemite Mountaineering School, which guide climbs throughout the park.

Don't Miss: In 1919, metal cables were installed at the Half Dome to help visitors climb the last 400 feet to the summit without additional equipment. "Even though you put on gloves and walk along these cables with a bunch of other people, you do it after a long day of hiking and are completely jelly legged," said Jeffrey Olson, who works for the National Park Service. "You are wiped out when you get up there."

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Great Smoky Mountains

With 9 million visitors each year, the Great Smoky Mountains is the country's busiest park. That means the best way to explore it is to go off the beaten path, and traverse this park by foot. The park covers more than 800 square miles over North Carolina and Tennessee and has hiking trails throughout, dotted with old barns and churches built in the 1700s that are preserved as historical landmarks. "This park gets twice as many visitors as the Grand Canyon," said Kupper. "But that's because it's part of our national lore. Just because it's busy doesn't mean its all touristy. There's a lot the masses miss."

Don't Miss: The Fontana Reservoir is a 480-foot dam on the southwestern edge of the park, the tallest concrete dam east of the Rocky Mountains. It's a hub for fishing, boating, swimming and provides hot showers at the trail shelter for hikers traveling the Appalachian Trail.

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Carlsbad Caverns

The area near the Guadalupe Mountains in southeastern New Mexico was once home to an ancient, inland sea roughly 250 million years ago. The grounds have since dried out, leaving behind the vast maze of Carlsbad Caverns. Visitors can go spelunking with park rangers through some of the 119 caverns that formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone, including the Big Room, which stretches more than six football fields.

Don't Miss: Let the Big Room swell with tourists and have a ranger take you to Slaughter Canyon Cave, an underground wilderness that requires flashlights and headlamps. It's a slightly more strenuous adventure that begins with a half-mile trek to the cave, but you’ll see a large crystal-lined column called the Christmas Tree and the Chinese Wall, a shallow dam of rimstone.